Vacuum tank



Dec. 9, 1930. I c;- s, BURTQN 1,784,129

VACUUM TANK Filed Feb. 16. 1929 M zZL 7'72 aiya.

PatentedDec. 9, 1930` i L UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE cHARLEss. BURTON, or OAK PARK, ILLINOIS y vacuum TANK Application Vtiled February 16, 1929. Serial No. 340,352.

v vacuum 4fuel feedingdevices that when, for

' the vacuum to a degree to permit the chamber Vany reason, in a vacuum tan the valve usually provided for controlling thesuction port is omitted, it is necessary to limitvthe size of Y the suction port to avery small fraction of the atmosphere port and valve, in order thatthe` opening of the atmospherevalve shall reduce of convenient depth to discharge by'v gravity for a substantial portion of the depth.= 'And it is also well understood that the relatively large size of the atmosphere valve necessitates a correspondingly large floatto have the buoyant value necessaryifor breaking thesuci tion hold on the valve Vforopening it when the chamber is filled and should be discharged.

Dispensing with the valve at Vthe suction port thus creates the dilemma that if .the suction port is made large enough to ensure'rapid l.filling of the vacuumchamber with fuel,the"V atmosphere` port must 'be sonlarge. thatithe ioat required to break thesuctionhold must be very large and the vacuumehamberv correspondingly large Vwithout .enlarged fuelcapacity aroundthe float, thus rendering the total construction large tandv correspondingly expensive and inconvenient 'for installation ou engine or vehicle suction. I'

On the other hand, if thesuction port is made smallenoug'h to permit the atmosphere port'to be smallenough vto require avalve small enough to be broken from thesuction holdby a moderate size loat, the fuel feeding.

capacityis rendered undesirabl flow.

`This dilemma is avoided-in t e present-invention bythe expedient of getting the atmosphere valve, which isistressedltoits seat Yini VVwardly with respect to the vacuum chamber by the suction, with another Velement arranged v to be stressed inwardly Aby thesame suction, the connection between the two elements being arranged to oppose, the two stressed to each other, so that they are sub-V stantially counter-balanced; and however large the atmosphere inlet'port may bemade, the counter-balancing element may Vbe made of equal or nearly equal exposure tothe suction, sothat the valve will be held to its seat by only the amount of pressure which is produced by the relative dimensions of the parts for causingthe valve to be thus held bythe minimum force judged necessary to insure that it will not be jarred from its seat bythe Vrunning oftheengine or the travel of the vfehicle.

v VThecharacteroif this expedient adapts it to be employed either ina construction in which the atmosphere valve is seated interiorly, so Aas to be held toits seat by the suction, -as in the usual vacuum'tankconstruction, or in a construction in which that valve is located exteriorly ofthe vacuum chamber and would be unseated by thesuction; for the counter-halfk ancin'g element may be arranged in either case for .experiencing the suction in the same direction as the valve, and may be connected for Y transmitting the stress in the reverse direction for counter-balancing the stress on :the valve. l 'Y' Y.v

In the form of the invention shown in the present application they atmosphere valve is a slide valve arranged for requiring very short sliding movement for opening an atmosphere inlet-of relativel large area, the valve and a part of the. cham er Wall comprising the port being in the form of grating,-the wall having a multiplicity ofV relative long'and narrow Y parallel slots spaced apart 'somewhatflnore than their Width, and the Valve being identically formed forseating and sliding'on a f' slotted area` of the wallv constituting thus the.

valve seat, the open position of thevalve ber y ingfwith 'its slots registered with the yslots of Y the seat, and the sliding movement from' this position afdistance very slightly more'than the'width ofthe slot, serving to'put the valve in closed position. f

v The slide valve is shown mounted for seating interiorly of the chamber wall, and is held yieldingly against -the seat, so that the suction due to vacuum in the chamber tends to relax the pressure of the valve on its seat.

rlhe valve is operated tor sliding to open and close by a lever which is operated by a float in the chamber, the valve being moved for opening when 'the iioat is lifted to a predetermined he-ight by the rise ot' the liquid to predetermined high level in 'the chamber, and being` moved Yigor closing when the itioat is lowered by the subsidence oi the liquid to a predetermined low level.

in the drawings:

Figure l is a vertical section oi a vacuum tank embodj-,fing this invention.

Figure 2 is a top plan view ol the same. Figure 3 is a detail section at the line 3 3 ure -i a duplication oli' the upper part ci Figure l on an enlarged scale.

The vaci'uunr chai'nber is seen at A; the outer oi' main body member constituting the cus- Y tomary reserve fuel chamber is indicated at B. C a cap which closes both chambers at the top and secures them together by means of an annular stamping, H, formed zigzag in radial section, lapping and soldered outside the body member, B, and lapping inside a peripheral flange, 10, of the cap under a marginal flange, 11, of the chamber, A. The three parts, viz., the annular stamping, H, which is permanently attached to the chainber, A, the chamber, B,'and the cap, C,-are separably secured together by bolts, 12, with suitable packing gaskets, 13, interposed for f licuid-tio'ht -unction between the ca 3 and the i vacuum chamber, B, an atmosphere ventv iitting, M, being'mouuted in the lapped flanges, 1t) and 11, and the web oli the cap, C. The 'fuel inlet fitting is seen at D. The

'fuel outlet iitting is seen at E, and a suction connection iitting is seen at F. l

The slide valve', controlling the atmos` pliere inlet, is seen at G, having a plurality of parallel slots, 20, arranged and diiiiensioned for registration Vwith the atmos )here inlet# D .4 slots, 30, which ai'e 'termed in a. plate, K,1

which is mounted exteriorly of thel cap, G, covering a rele-tively longl narrow slot, 40, in the cap, C, in which slot the valve, G, is fitted iior sliding longitudinally, the valve being enough shorter than the slot to permit its movement in the slot from open to closed position, that is, from the position at which the slots, 20. oi the valve register with the slots, 30, of the plate to a position at which the slots of the plate are closed by the valve lapl ping the plate slots.

For upholding the valve in position in the slot, 40, ot thecap and seated against the underside of the plate, K, there is provided a spring bar pressure lever. L, fulcrumed at 21 on a bracket, 22, which depends from the cap, C, said lever having at one end a roller, 2 3, which bears upwardly against the under middle portion side of the slide valve, G, at a of the length of that valve at which the valve is without transverse slots, the plate, K, having a corresponding portion of its length without slots. The other end of the spring bar lever, L, is connected to a stem, 41, of a diaphragm, N, which constitutes the movable wall section exposed exteriorly to atmospheric pressure and interiorly to the subatmospheric pressure due to the engine suction through the suction connection, F, the suction obtaining restricted access to the vacuum chamber by the small port, 50, in the restriction fitting, F1, at which the iitting, F, is connected to the vacuum chamber.

The diaphragm stem, 41, isadjustable at its connection `With a spring bar lever, L, by heinispherical nuts, 41a, which by their hemispherical forni render the connection somewhat pivotal, and by their adjustment serve for adjustingy thev pressure of the slide valve, G, against its seat on t-lie plate, K, to render that pressure, independently of the action oi the diaphragm, N, due to the vacuum in the chamber, only sufficient to insure perfect touch between the valve and the seat, and to insure that the valve shall not be jarred out of touch by the vibration of the engine or jolting ofthe vehicle.

For operating the valve there is provided a bell crank lever, P, fulcrumed at 35 on a bracket, 36, depending from the cap, C, to which is attached striding the slot, 40, as seen in Figure 3, the upstanding arm, 37, of said lever engaging a notch, 43, in the end of a downwardly projecting lug, 46, formed at the end of the slide valve, G.

The horizontally extending arm, 38, of the lever, P, carries a depending rod, 49, on which between upper and lower stops, 51 and 52, thereon a iioat, S,'is guided in up and down movement as it is buoyed by the liquid contained in the chamber.

The horizontal arm ol' the lever, P, may be threaded as seen at 44 for carrying a weight,'T, adjustable oradjusting the device in respect to frictional resistance offered by tlieslide valve and connections, to the stress exerted by the buoyant effort of the float for opening vmovement of the valve. And in respect to this feature of the device vand its operation it maybe noted that the limited frictional Vpressure of the; valve against its seat on the plate, K, will cause the float, arrested in its rising movement as the liquid level rises when it encounters the stop, 51, to stand atthe level at which4 it is thus stopped while the liquid level` continues to rise until the increased submersion of the ioat develops its buoyancy to a degree sufiicieiit to overcome the frictional resistance of the valve ,and that when this stage is reached and the vfurther 'upward movement A of the float and connections begins, the inertia of the moving partswill insure the completion of the very 'shortV movementof. the valve to wide-open position. And it will be observed that the purpose of the adjustable weight, T, is to supplement the float and lever in respect to the inertia., and to supplement the friction of the valve on its seat for delaying the float until its increased submersion and consequently increased buoyant value shall be adequate to insure that the valve shall derive a complete opening movement when the float starts after being stopped by the stop, 51'.

W'hen the liquid level subsides by the gravity discharge from the chamber, B, lowering the float into contact with the lower stop, 52, the float will be halted by the frictional resistance of the valve until the further subsidence of the liquid level, reducing the submergence of the float, brings its weight int-o operation to a sufficient extent to overcome said frictional resistance and start the opening movement, the dist-ance from open to closed position being very short, the inertia` of the parts when they begin to move will Vinsure the completion of the movement to fully closed position of the valve.

1. A construction for lifting liquid by suction, comprising a vacuum chamber having a suction connection', a liquid inflow connection, an atmosphere inlet port and a liquid discharge port, a valve controlling the atmosphere inlet port arranged for suction action thereon holding it against its seat, a limited portion of the chamber wall being inwardly and outwardly movable without opening the wall, operating connections between the valve and said movablewall part arranged for opposing the suction action on the latter to the suction action on'.` the valve; a oat in the n chamber and connections from the float to said operating connections adapted to move the valve in opening direction upon the float being lifted` by the rise of the liquid in the chamber to a predetermined high level, `and to move the valve in closing direction upon the Subsldcncc of the hqmd to a predeterthe valvebeing seated interiorly ofthe cham-- ber, wherebyv the suctiontends to relav its 4 pressure on its seat, the operating connections mined low level.

2. In the construction defined in claim 1, the operating connections between the movable wall member and the valve being dimensioned relatively to the port area of the valve and the movable area of the movable wall member for approximately equalizingy the opposite actions of the suction on said movable wall member` and valve respectively. d

, member and the port area of the valve for approximately balancing the opposite move- `ment-inducing force of tlne suction in the chamberon said valve and movable wall member respectively, and means additional to the balanced force exerted by the movable wall lfor approximately balancing the opposite movement-inducing force of the suction in the chamber on'said valve and diaphragm re spectively, and the spring reacting on the diaphragm, stressing it inwardly with respect to the chamberfor overbalancing the suction action 'on the valve in opposite direction. f

5. In theconstruction defined inclaim 1, the movable wall member being a rflexible diaphragm, the lever mechanism consisting of a lever of the first class, the connection from the float being made to said lever at a point of the lever at the oppositeA side of its y connect-ion with the diaphragm` from the lever fulcrum; whereby leverage is afforded in favor of the buoyant effort of the float for overcoming the excess of the force exerted through the diaphragm for holding` the valve seated, over the suction action .on the valve for unseating it. Y p

6. In the construction defined in claim 1, the valve being a slide valve, a lever separa-te fromvthefirst mentioned operating vconnections constituting themeans by" which the float operates the valve, the float being asso ciated with said separate lever for actuating it in opposite directions at the limits of the rising and descending-movement of the flo-at for opening and closing the Avalve in said rising and descending movements respectively. 7 In the construction defined inclaim 1, means for applying pressure for holding the valve against its seat adapted to render said pressure slightly in excess of thepressure due toV action of the vacuum on the movable wall member. Y

8. `In the construction dofined'in claim 1,

being also Within the chamber and being con- Vne-cted to the movable wall member by astem of the'latter, said stern being exteriorly accessible for adjustment for applying to the valve pressure thereon seatward., v Y

9. In the construction defined in claim 1,' the valve being seated interiorly of the chamber, the operating connections being a lever of the first class having its fulc'rum'and end connections inside the chamber, one of its connections being adjustable to press the valve against the seat independently of thecounter-balancing action of the movable wel member due to suction thereon, said adjustable connection comprising an exteriorly ac-Q.

cessible part arranged for manipulation to effect such adjustment.

10. ln the construction defined in cla-iin 1, lthe valve being a. slide valve, a lever separate Vfrom said operating connections first mentioned. operatively connected With the valve ttor sliding;` it, the float being' connected with said separate lever for actuating it at predetermined limits of the rising and descending' 10 movements of the float due to changev of level o the liquid content of the chamber.

11. The construction deiined in claim 1, the valve being' aI slide valve seated exteriorly of the chamber, mea-ns for causing' the pressure- 125 of the valve on its seat to exceed the force exerted by the movable Wall member due to suction; a bell crank lever fnlcrnmed Within the chamber having' an npstandine; arm engagging the valve, and a horizontally extendingr arm 'for connection with the float, andv a Weight adjustable on said horizontal arm for adapting the pressure exerted by said Weight to the rictional resistance of the valve movement due to said excess.

@o 12. .ln the construction defined in claim 1, the valve being a slide valve, a lever separate from said operating connections connected with the valve for sliding; it for opening; and closing at the limits of the risi, and de- '30 scending movements respectively er the float,

and means connecting' the lloat withv said sepa-rate lever arranged to be engaged by the float at said limits.

13. ln the construction delined n1 claim' 1,

s the valve being` a slide valve` the operating' connections being' arranged for atiording a slide bearing' for 'the valve, and exteriorly accessible means for adjusting the stress of the lever mechanism on the valve.

14. In the construction defined in claim 1, the valve bein g' slide valve seated interioi'ly ot the chamber, whereby suction tends to Withdraw it from its seat, and the operating A connections being' arranged for operating` against the valve and affording a slide bearing for the latter, and exteriorly accessible means for adjusting` the stress of the lever mechanism on the valve. Y y

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand at Chicago, Illinois, this 13th da f of February, 1929.

CHARLES S. BURTON. 

